Cyber Crimes

Bergen County Prosecutor's OfficeCyber Crimes Unit

The Cyber Crimes Unit (CCU) is comprised of specially trained sworn law enforcement personnel, a civilian agent, and an Assistant Prosecutor who handle the increasingly complicated matrix of technological devices and services and how these things impact criminal investigations.

The CCU has three primary functions. First, the unit handles criminal investigations involving the internet and technology. Some of these investigations involve undercover online investigations where police officers attempt to penetrate criminal enterprises that are ongoing in the digital universe. Additionally, detectives in the CCU assist multiple other law enforcement agencies with handling technology-related investigations and evidence.

The CCU also has a dedicated computer forensic laboratory on-site. The analysts that work for the Prosecutor’s Office are trained to use their forensic workstations to search for “digital breadcrumbs” of criminal evidence. This state-of-the-art laboratory is capable of accessing computer hard drives, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, and removable memory devices like memory cards and “flash” drives.

The third and final aspect of the CCU is education and public outreach. For almost a decade, the members of the CCU and a group of additional law enforcement officers from the County in the Cyber Crimes Task Force have provided seminars advising the public about computer and Internet issues. These lectures have been given to middle schools, parent groups, educators, and other state agencies. Thousands of people have seen these lectures since the squad was created in 2004. The goal of these lectures is always the same - the best way to affect a crime is to prevent it from happening in the first place and the best weapon for that fight is educating the public about the dangers of the Internet.